Removable sign for an automotive vehicle door



June 14, 1966 H. M. DE VANE 3,

REMOVABLE SIGN FOR AN AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE DOOR Filed Feb. 5, 1965 I nyen/m;

Harry M De Vane b g vvt G,

llfonw/ United States Patent 3,255,542 REMOVABLE SIGN FOR AN AUTOMOTIVEVEHICLE DOOR Harry M. De Vane, 1549 Pine St., Oxnard, Calif. Filed Feb.5, 1965, Ser. No. 430,611 Claims. (Cl. 40-129) 'This invention relatesto a removable sign for an automotive vehicle door.

It is an object of my invention to provide a sign which can beselectively mounted upon and removed from the door of an automotivevehicle. Signs are often required by law or desired by the vehicle ownerfor advertising or identification purposes when the vehicle is beingused for the purpose of trade or commerce. On the other hand, such signsare often undesirable when the vehicle is being used for personalpleasure or for another business enterprlse.

It is accordingly an object of my invention to provide a sign which canbe easily mounted upon and removed from a vehicle door without anyfastening devices being mounted upon the vehicle and without damagingthe vehicle in any way.

It is a further and more particular object of my invention to provide asign of the type described which can be used in vehicle doors which havea slight degree of curvature in a vertical and/ or horizontal direction.

Another object of my invention is to provide a sign of the typedescribed which does not detract from the appearance of the vehicle whenin use and which carries its own fastening means for holding itself uponthe door and which also includes adjusting means for fitting doors ofdiiferent sizes.

It is also among the objects of my invention to provide a sign of thetype described in which the sign itself is separate from the signholding members, so that different sign plates may be used.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a sign which iseconomical to manufacture, so that it is capable of being sold at areasonably low price for widespread use.

In essence, my invention contemplates a pair of elongated tracks havingholding means at the opposite ends thereof for engaging the edges of avehicle door. A flat sign plate is held in place by and between thetracks. The sign plate is sufi'iciently resilient to accommodate amoderate degree of vertical and/or horizontal curvature in the vehicledoor and the tracks are also capable of being bent to a limited degreeto accommodate curvature in a horizontal direction.

It is accordingly among the objects of my invention to provide aremovable sign for an automotive vehicle door having all of theadvantages and benefits of the structure set forth above and describedin further detail hereinafter in this specification.

My invention also comprises such other objects, advantages andcapabilities as will later more fully appear and which are inherentlypossessed by my invention.

While I have shown in the accompanying drawings preferred embodiments ofmy invention, it should be understood that the same are susceptible ofmodification and change without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

Referring to the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automotive vehicle door, showing myremovable sign mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the same, taken along line 22 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view, taken along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the track assembly, taken along line 4-4of FIG. 3;

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FIG.'5 is a sectional view of the track assembly, taken along line 55 ofFIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one of the slides;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an automotive vehicle door, showing analternative embodiment of my sign mounted thereon;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of one of the blocks which fits within thetracks;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an alternative form of slide for use inthe alternative embodiment of my invention shown in FIG. 7.

A preferred embodiment which has been selected to illustrate myinvention comprises a pair of identically formed elongated tracks 10,which may conveniently be formed of metal. The tracks 10 are adapted tobe mounted so that they extend horizontally across an automotive vehicledoor 12, with one track 10 being disposed along the lower part of thedoor 12 and the other track 10' being disposed a substantial distancethereabove. Each of the tracks 10 preferably has a semi-circular orraised shape and is provided along the portion which fits against thevehicle door 12 with a pair of flanges 13, which face inwardly towardeach other.

Each of the tracks 10 has at each end thereof a fixed block 14, which isbest seen in FIGS. 3, 5 and 8 of the drawings. The block 14 is providedon its rounded portion with a circular recess 15. The adjacent portionof the track 10 is deformed inwardly into the recess 15 in order to holdthe block 14 in fixed position with respect to the track 10.

As shown in FIG. 8 of the drawings, the non-rounded side of the block 14is provided with two longitudinal slots 16 and 17 and two transverseslots 18 and 19. The adjacent portions of the flanges 13 of the track 10are deformed inwardly into the transverse slots 18 and 19 to furtherhold the block 14 in fixed position with respect to the track 10.

An elongated movable slide 20 is mounted within each end of the tracks10 outwardly from the block 14. The slide 20 includes an inner endportion 21 which slideably overlies the inside of both of the flanges13. The outer end portion 22 of the slide 20 is narrower and is slightlysmaller in width than the distance between the flanges 13. The extremeend of the outer end portion 22 is bent back upon itself to form a hook23, which is adapted to'engage and fit around the edge of the vehicledoor 12.

At the opposite end of the slide 20, the end of the inner end portion 21is bent at a right angle to form a leg 24,

which extends parallel to and is spaced from the side of the block 14.The leg 24 is provided with an opening 25, which is somewhat larger thanthe shank of an adjusting screw 26, which extends through the opening 25and is threaded into a screw threaded opening 27 in the block 14. Theadjusting screw 26 is provided with a slotted head 28, which isaccessible from the end of the track 10 when the end cap has beenremoved.

As shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings, the hook 23 fits around the edge ofthe vehicle door 12. The screw 26 may be tightened by inserting a screwdriver into the head 28 from the end of the track 10 to move the slide20 toward the block 14. The hook 23 is released by rotation of the screw26 in the opposite direction.

Each end of the track 10 is provided with an end cap 29, which taperstoward its outer end. The inner end of the end cap 29 is provided with adimple 30, which slidably fits under and engages a corresponding dimple31 in the outer end of the track 10, to hold the end cap 29 in place.

sheet material which is sufiiciently flexible so that it is capable ofbeing bent slightly to follow the curved contour of the door in avertical direction along its upper and lower edges with a pair of rightangular top and bottom flanges 34 and 35, respectively. The flanges 34and 35 extend along the entire length of the sign plate 33.

In case the edge of the door is curved or angled instead of straight, asshown in FIG. 7 of the drawings, 1 provide an alternative embodiment ofslide member 40, which is shown in FIG. 9 of the drawings. Instead ofthe outer end portion 41 being fixed, it is pivotally mounted by a pivot42 so that it is free to pivot to fit the curvature or angle of thedoor.

Since the outer end portion 41 is considerably narrower than the end cap29, the same end cap 29 can be used and the outer end portion 41 angledwithin the end cap 29. If the angle is extreme and the end cap 29interferes, a small part of one edge of the end cap 29 can be filed awayin order to provide clearance for the outer end portion 41.

The tracks 10 should preferably have a slight degree of resilience orflexibility, so that they will bend slightly in use in order to follow aslight degree of curvature in the vehicle door.

While the blocks 14 have been shown held in place by deforming theadjacent portions of the tracks, other conventional fastening means maybe used, such as screws, rivets, welding, etc. to hold the blocks 14securely in place within the tracks 10.

I claim:

1. A removable sign for automotive vehicle doors comprising a pair ofelongated tracks adapted to be mounted in parallel spaced horizontalrelationship across the upper and lower portions respectively of avehicle door, each of said tracks having a substantially semi-circularportion and a pair of inwardly facing flanges adapted to extendsubstantially parallel to the vehicle door, a block fixedly mountedadjacent each end of each of said tracks, each of said blocks having ascrew threaded opening extending therethrough, an elongated movableslide mounted outwardly from each of said blocks within said tracks,said slide having an inner end slidably overlying the flanges on saidtrack and a narrower outer end somewhat smaller in width than saidflanges and disposed therebetween, said outer end being bent back uponitself to form a hook adapted to fit around the edge of the vehicledoor, said slide having a right angular leg extending transverselyacross said track, said leg having an opening extending therethrough, anelongated adjusting screw having a head bearing against said leg and ashank extending through the opening in said leg and engaging thethreaded opening in said block, said head being accessible from the endof said track, and a substantially rectangular somewhat resilientsignplate having right angular top and bottom flanges, said flangesadapted to fit within said track, extending in transverse engagementwith one of the flanges of each of said tracks to hold said signplate ina substantially parallel position to said vehicle door.

2. A removable sign for automotive vehicle doors comprising a pair ofelongated tracks adapted to be mounted in parallel spaced horizontalrelationship across the upper and lower portions of a vehicle door, eachof said tracks having a pair of inwardly facing flanges adapted toextend substantially parallel to the vehicle door, a block fixedlymounted adjacent each end of each of said tracks, an elongated movableslide mounted within each end of each of said tracks outwardly from eachof said blocks, hook means carried by the outer end of said slide forengaging the edge of the vehicle door, an elongated adjusting screwadjustably connecting said slide and block, said screw being accessiblefrom the end of said track, and a somewhat resilient sign plate havingsubstantially right angular top and bottom flanges adapted to fit withinsaid tracks in transverse engagement with one of the flanges of each ofsaid tracks to hold said sign plate in substantially parallel positionto said vehicle door.

3. A removable sign for automotive vehicle doors, comprising a pair ofelongated tracks adapted to be mounted in parallel spaced horizontalrelationship across the upper and lower portions of a vehicle door, eachof said tracks having a pair of inwardly facing flanges adapted toextend substantially parallel to the vehicle door, an elongated movableslide mounted adjacent each end of each of said tracks, hook meanscarried by the outer end of said slide for engaging the edge of thevehicle door, an elongated adjusting screw accessible from the end ofsaid track for positioning said slide with respect to said track, and asign plate having top and bottom flanges adapted to fit within saidtracks in transverse engagement with one of the flanges of each of saidtracks to hold said sign plate in a substantially parallel position tosaid vehicle door.

4. The structure described in claim 3 and an end cap removably mountedover each end of each of said tracks, said end caps concealing the endsof said tracks and concealing said adjusting screws.

5. The structure described in claim 3, and at least one of said slideshaving the hook means thereof pivotally mounted with respect to saidtracks, whereby said hook is adapted to be positioned to fit around anangled or curved door edge.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,271,804 7/1918Thunell 40-128 X 1,512,330 10/1924 Flander 40-129 2,166,048, 7/1939Fritsch 40-129 2,201,002 5/1940 Theriault 40-129 2,214,302 9/1940 Kelleret a1. 40-129 2,675,983 4/1954 King 40-129 X 2,876,566 3/1959 Harrington40-129 2,902,241 9/1959 Spitko 40-129 X 2,995,849 8/1961 Donnellan40-140 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

LAWRENCE CHARLES, Examiner.

SHELDON M. BENDER, Assistant Examiner.

1. A REMOVABLE SIGN FOR AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE DOORS COMPRISING A PAIR OFELONGATED TRACKS ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED IN PARALLEL SPACED HORIZONTALRELATIONSHIP ACROSS THE UPPER AND LOWER PORTIONS RESPECTIVELY OF AVEHICLE DOOR, EACH OF SAID TRACKS HAVING A SUBSTANTIALKLY SEMI-CIRCULARPORTION AND A PAIR OF INWARDLY FACING FLANGES ADAPTED TO EXTENDSUBSTANTIALLY PARALLED TO THE VEHICLE DOOR, A BLOCK FIXEDLY MOUNTEDADJACENT EACH END OF EACH OF SAID TRACKS, EACH OF SAID BLOCKS HAVING ASCREW THREADED OPENING EXTENDING THERETHROUGH, AN ELONGATED MOVABLESLIDE MOUNTED OUTWARDLY FROM EACH OF SAID BLOCKS WITHIN SAID TRACKS,SAID SLIDE HAVING AN INNER END SLIDABLY OVERLYING THE FLANGES ON SAIDTRACK AND A NARROWER OUTER END SOMEWHAT SMALLER IN WIDTH THAN SAIDFLANGES AND DISPOSED THEREBETWEEN, SAID OUTER END BEING BENT BACK UPONITSELF TO FORM A HOOK ADAPTED TO FIT AROUND THE EDGE OF THE VEHICLEDOOR, SAID SLIDE HAVING A RIGHT ANGULAR LEG EXTENDING TRANSVERSELYACROSS SAID TRACK, SAID LEG HAVING AN OPENING EXTENDING THERETHROUGH, ANELONGATED ADJUSTING SCREW HAVING A HEAD BEARING AGAINST SAID LEG AND ASHANK EXTENDING THROUGH THE OPENING IN SAID LEG AND ENGAGING THETHREADED OPENING IN SAID BLOCK, SAID HEAD BEING ACCESSIBLE FROM THE ENDOF SAID TRACK, AND A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR SOMEWHAT RESILIENTSIGNPLATE HAVING RIGHT ANGULAR TOP AND BOTTOM FLANGES, SAID FLANGESADAPTED TO FIT WITHIN SAID TRACK, EXTENDING IN TRANSVERSE ENGAGEMENTWITH ONE OF THE FLANGES OF EACH OF SAID TRACKS TO HOLD SAID SIGNPLATE INA SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL POSITION TO SAID VEHICLE DOOR.